The present invention relates to an electronic watt-hour meter and more particularly to an integrating circuit for use with a Hall effect sensor having offset compensation means.
Induction watt-hour meters are currently used for energy measurements and billing purposes at consumers' locations. The induction watt-hour meter (IWM) is a very reliable, accurate and low cost device with a moderate level of security, having a long life and operating accurately over a wide range of temperature and physical conditions.
However, by the nature of its analog register operation, it is an inflexible device that cannot be easily programmed for time of day switching functions and lacks capability for remote communication readout and control.
An alternative approach to the IWM is an electronic watt-hour meter, which utilizes digital logic thereby providing a consumer with a local readout of energy consumption, demand and cost of electric services for the period. A desirable electronic watt-hour meter is described in more detail in the cross-referenced application entitled Electronic Watt-Hour Meter, Serial No. 297,429, filed Aug. 28, 1981, and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention.
In order to implement such an electronic watt-hour meter, it is necessary to provide input control signals which accurately represent watt-hour consumption so that the electronic watt-hour meter can properly perform its assigned functions.
In view of the above background, it is an objective of the present invention to provide an integrating circuit which will generate the necessary input control signals representing watt-hour consumption for connection to an electronic watt-hour meter.